


caught in the middle

by hollow_city



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 13:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13590990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollow_city/pseuds/hollow_city
Summary: "you're a horrible flier!" the boy cries, his warm fingers clenching tightly in the front of shiro's shirt.shiro can't help the grin that grows on his face. "you've just never flown with an airbender before."he doesn't think much of the stony silence that follows his retort.-or, in which shiro is the avatar who's been captured by the fire nation, and keith is the firebender who refuses to let that stand.





	caught in the middle

**Author's Note:**

> i was going to make this a full story but then nah, because i haven't ever once finished one of those. i'll probably add more to this as part of a series, because for some reason i'm more likely to do that.  
> so sorry if this is bad, whoops.

Shiro doesn't remember waking up. He remembers going down in the storm, and he remembers metal walls and air so thick he thought he'd choke. He remembers his youthful and flexible joints creaking and his legs dragging along the floor.

He remembers the beginning in flashes, and he's not sure if he wants to know more or less. All he knows right now is that his arms and legs are tied down and his head is strapped down. He can bend, he tries every day, but it doesn't do him any good. He barely has any energy and summoning the air to do any damage takes everything he has left. The table and walls are made of heavy metal; nothing he can do anything with.

He can't waterbend, and he can't earthbend, and he can't firebend. He's an airbender. They don't know what he can do, but they think they know what he  _should_ be able to do, so there is no water, and there is no earth of any kind. They hold him down when they let him drink and they keep him tied up even when he isn't strapped down. He is powerless. 

Oftentimes, Shiro wonders if he can teach himself to waterbend when they're not watching him. When they do what they do, there's sweat. The guards will sweat, the interrogators will sweat. If he could teach himself to waterbend, he could get out. Bending the sweat of the men and women who torture him and question him daily doesn't sound like the most pleasant way to learn to waterbend, but he may have no other choice.

His wandering thoughts are interrupted by the quiet creaking of the heavy metal door attached to the room. It's the only way in and the only way out. His body immediately goes slack against the hard surface and his eyes slip shut. Sometimes they leave him alone to sleep so he has enough energy to withstand another bout of torture. 

"Wake up," a harsh voice hisses, appearing suddenly above him. His footsteps were silent as he crossed the room. "We're leaving."

Shiro doesn't move a muscle. 

"I know you're not sleeping!" the man - really, he's more a boy than a man - snaps, reaching up and unlocking the cuffs holding his hands in an almost painfully tight grip. "We have  _very_ little time to get you out of here, so get off your ass, stand up, and haul ass."

Shiro's eyes snap open. His hands flex and his arms creak with disuse.

The boy moves to his legs and unlocks the cuffs. For the briefest moment, he lies there. He lies there because he doesn't know if he can trust this boy. He hasn't seen his face, it's too dark in the room when there's no firebending happening. 

"Let's go!" the boy hisses, moving across the room again. Shiro watches his shadow skirt around the room, moving silently. 

For the first time in weeks, Shiro launches himself into the air and lands gently on his feet. It's the best feeling he's felt since he got here. With one languid movement, his limbs are stretching above his head and his heels are lifting off the ground. The boy gives him a moment to do so, before he grabs onto Shiro's better arm and drags him from the room. 

"We have five minutes before a guard comes by to replace me. We have to be long gone before then," the boy tells him near imperceptibly, letting go of Shiro's arm when he starts to run on his own beside him.

The taller boy tires fairly quickly, due to the malnourishment and lack of recent movement, but he doesn't stop. If he's getting out of here, stopping an complaining about the burning in his legs isn't going to do anything for him. 

"Stop," the boy commands, slamming the back of his hand into Shiro's chest, bringing the airbender to a halt. "We have to wait thirty seconds. A patrol will be through and then we can cross. I have your staff and your clothes stashed further down."

The idea of holding his staff again makes Shiro's heard pound, but he doesn't get his hopes up. He wouldn't be surprised if the firebenders burned it. He wouldn't be surprised if  _this_ firebender burned it.

Now, Shiro has never been cynical, or paranoid. After all, he was raised by monks. Kindness and peace were ingrained in him for as long as he can remember. But now, things are different. He doesn't know what happened, or what exactly the firebenders want him for. He'd always known that the firebenders were dangerous and suspicious, but fights had never broken out between the elements. He can't begin to fathom what they'd want him for.

Besides, he's useless as he is. He's only mastered one element. 

"Here," the boy says as he stops them again and shoves a bundle of clothes in Shiro's direction. He reaches into the vent he'd gotten them from and pulls out a long wooden staff. "You have two minutes to change, but that's it."

The boy turns around, muscles tight and hands curled dangerously by his sides. Shiro has yet to see him bend, but he has no doubt that his boy is a firebender. How good he is, though, is the real question.

As fast as he can possibly manage, Shiro rips off the Fire Nation prisoner garb he'd been given when they stripped him of his valuables. He pulls on the familiar red and yellow of his Nation and almost smiles. It fits a bit loosely, as he'd lost a little weight while in captivity, but he has no doubt that he'll gain it back once he's free. It'll just take a little work.

He taps the boy's shoulder and snatches his staff when he whips around.

"Done? Good. Let's go."

Without another word, the boy spins and takes off. Shiro follows, dialing his own speed back. He could run much faster, but he doesn't think the firebender would be able to keep up with him, so he doesn't. He's not so selfish as to leave him in the dust.

When they reach a door with a tiny window at eye level, the boy stops him again. He stands on his toes - he's several inches shorter than Shiro - and peers through, his eyes flicking back and forth as he scans the deck.

It's lined with Fire Nation soldiers, but not a single one of them looks particularly enthused about being there.

"Are you good?" the boy asks, the loudest he's spoken yet. When Shiro sends him a questioning look, the boy sighs. "Are you good to bend? Or am I gonna have to do this by myself?" He jerks his head toward the door. 

Shiro flexes his fingers around his staff, takes a deep breath, and nods.

"I'm good," he tells the boy.

The firebender nods, resting his hand on the handle of the door and holding up his other hand. He counts down from five, and on one, throws the door open. He bursts through like a bomb set off, spewing flames and knocking any heads he can get his hands on. Shiro follows his lead but keeps his staff closed for fear of it catching on the plumes of white-hot flames flowing back and forth across the deck.

A powerful wall of air knocks down several soldiers, sending them tumbling over each other and overboard. The airbender doesn't give them a second thought as he rounds on several more soldiers gathering around him, seemingly trying to take him down without hurting him.

There's no point, Shiro thinks as his vision fills with black dots. He blinks profusely, they've already hurt him plenty. 

He doesn't waste a damn second after catching his breath to drop low to the ground and sweep his leg out, sending them down like dominoes. 

"Can you carry both of us?" the boy appears by his side and suddenly they're back to back, fighting with wind and flames.

"Probably," Shiro replies. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

He sighs. "In that case, yes I can."

The boy lets out a particularly brutal burst of flames so white they're almost blue, before turning to Shiro, his indigo eyes wild.

"We gotta go,  _now_ ," he says, making his way to the edge of the deck.

Taking one last glance around, Shiro takes off after him, using a bit of extra power to catch up faster. 

"On my back," he instructs, adjusting accordingly when the boy immediately latches onto his back like an octopus. With one final gust of air, Shiro leaps into the air and opens his staff, wobbling for a few moments before regaining his balance.

He hasn't flown in so long, he'd nearly forgotten what it felt like. He can't quite revel in the feeling yet, as he has no idea who he's carrying, where he's going, or where he is.

The boy unloops one arm from around Shiro's neck and points ahead of them and off to the right.

"There, go there!" he shouts, wiggling a little in his spot.

"Stop moving!" Shiro yells back when the movement causes his glider to dip. "This isn't really made for two people!"

The boy mumbles an apology, letting out a muffled shriek when the airbender suddenly jerks to the side to avoid an oncoming flaming rock.

"Are you serious?" Shiro mumbles, ducking his head to look back at the ship once more. They've brought out the catapults, but nobody is making contact. "Hold on."

Using his surroundings to his advantage, he dips beyond a smaller glacier, bringing them dangerously close to the surface. The water pushes down and away from them from the force of the wind.

"You're a  _horrible_ flier!" the boy cries, his warm fingers clenching tightly in the front of Shiro's shirt. 

Shiro can't help the grin that grows on his face. "You've just never flown with an airbender before."

He doesn't think much of the stony silence that follows his retort. The flight doesn't last much longer until the boy points out a tiny boat nestled underneath the lip of a massive glacier. 

"Land there," he instructs, pulling his hand back and clutching at Shiro's shirt once more.

Shiro circles over the area, bringing them lower, before closing the glider and dropping towards the boat. The boy still attached to him lets out a quiet squeak at the sudden change in direction and clings even harder than before. The boat dips downward as the water pushes away when Shiro breaks their fall. 

The second his feet hit the boards of the boat, the firebender is climbing off and putting as much space between them as possible.

"You speak of that to no one," he threatens, pointing a finger at Shiro. "No one."

Shiro stares at the boy for a moment, before smiling.

"Sure, whatever floats your boat, kid," he says, resting the end of his staff on the floor and leaning on it.

The boy looks mildly put out as he grits, "not a kid."

"Sure," Shiro says again, taking a seat at the edge of the boat and leaning back, heaving a sigh of pure exhaustion. "Who are you, anyway."

The boy stares down at him. "I'm Keith."

Shiro stares back, not backing down. "Nice to meet you, Keith. I'm Shiro."

"I know your name."

The statement causes Shiro to pause and raise an eyebrow. He doesn't remember telling anybody.

Keith nods to the staff in his hand.

"It's carved into the side. They tried to figure out everything they could about you, but all they had was you, your staff, and that beast... thing," he explains, moving to untether the boat and push it away into the water. 

Shiro's eyes fly wide open and he flutters to his feet. "They have Kuro?!"

"Its name is Kuro?" Keith asks, raising his eyebrows as he directs them away from the prison rig. "Yeah, they have your... whatever that thing is."

Shiro's hand tightens around his staff until his knuckles turn white.

He could handle being tortured. He could handle the questioning. He could handle being held prisoner. But he can't handle thinking about what they'd done to his best friend.

Because Kuro  _was_ his best friend. The other air nomads his age weren't very forgiving when they found out he was the Avatar, and Kuro was the only friend he had left. 

"Kuro is a flying bison, and I cannot leave him there with those - those savages," Shiro grinds out, glaring down at Keith.

Keith doesn't back down.

"Listen, I just made myself a fugitive and swore off my entire nation to get you out of there. I've been planning this for weeks. We are  _not_ going back there," Keith snaps, glancing back and forth between Shiro and the water in front of them.

Shiro falls silent and takes a step backward. He takes a seat on the small surface of the tip of the boat, tucking his legs beneath him. He holds his staff across his knees and stares at his tattooed hands.

"He was my only friend," he says quietly, picking up a pebble from the deck of the boat and twirling it through his fingers on a tiny stream of air.

A moment of silence, and then a quiet sigh.

"We can't go back now, but we'll get him back. I promise," Keith says quietly.

Shiro looks up and meets his unusual eyes, before nodding.

"Thank you."

They sail in silence for several more minutes, Shiro perched on the edge of the boat and Keith watching for ice in their path.

Shiro's mind wanders rapidly as he tosses the pebble back and forth between his hands.

He can't help but wonder how long he's been gone. He thinks it's been a few weeks, but it was difficult to keep track. He thinks about Monk Ulaz, and wonders if the older man misses him. Monk Ulaz was his guardian, and he tried his hardest to give Shiro the childhood he deserved despite being the Avatar. Shiro certainly misses him. 

Shiro wonders if they've been looking for him, if the other kids noticed his absence. He wonders if he's missed his seventeenth birthday. He wonders if they celebrated anyway. 

"Where are we going?" he asks after a while.

Keith doesn't answer for a moment, tapping his fingers against the woof of the boat. 

"Never got that far," he says, and when Shiro's mouth opens, he holds his hands up. "I've thought about it, but nothing really seems like a good option."

"What do you mean?"

Keith shrugs. "We have to get out of Fire Nation territory. They're already advancing into the Earth Kingdom, and Ba Sing Se is too obvious. The Nothern Water Tribe is too far."

Shiro smiles. "So? We should just go to the Southern Air Temple. I'm sure they'd be happy to see me."

Keith's shoulders stiffen and his open palm smokes. Shiro's head turns to the side.

"What's wrong?" he asks, climbing to his feet.

The firebender winces. "I didn't want to tell you. I'm so sorry, Shiro."

"What are you talking about?"

Keith turns and lets the current carry them. "There is no Southern Air Temple anymore. I mean, I'm sure it's still there, but there's nobody there."

Shiro lets him continue. 

"The Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads," Keith says, his voice rough and quiet. "They wiped them out almost a hundred years ago."

Shiro takes a step toward the boy, drawing up to his full height. 

"You're lying to me," he says, his voice steady and clear. "I've only been gone a few weeks. Why would you even say that?"

Keith holds his hands out placatingly. "I'm sorry, but you haven't been gone a few weeks. You've been gone for a  _hundred years."_

Shiro chokes. "No, you can't..."

"Shiro, you're the last airbender." 

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
